a year of reading

books i loved in 2024 and what's on my list for next year

Dec 29, 2024

Hi friends,

It seems as though another year has passed. Well, that sure was quick! I swear I was just setting my reading challenge on Goodreads. Last year, I thoroughly enjoyed reading recap articles and found that many of the books I wanted to read this year came recommended from here on Substack. Since everyone seems to be in the mood to reflect on 2024 right about now in limbo between Christmas and New Year’s, I’m adding my picks to the internet void.

For those who know me well, I love sharing my consumptions (think: books, pastries, music, articles, the sort), and I’m hoping in the next year to do just that ~ albeit hopefully more consistently in blog post form. In the meantime, considering I love to read and bookstores are my happy place, I have a huge list to share.

If you do get to read anything from my list, please let me know! I would love to hear your thoughts.

my favorite reads of 2024

nonfiction

Doppelgänger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein
- Published in 2023, this book is a memoir/political reflection by an activist author who was mistaken for another public intellectual who became absorbed in conspiracy theories. She writes in a dark-comedy style about her pandemic-related observations and ‘branding’ as an identity. I loved reading this book, and if it won this year’s inaugural Women’s Prize in Non-fiction, I think you would too.
Air-Conditioned Nation Revisited: Essays about Singapore by Cherian George
- An anthology of essays that date back to the turn of the century, author and academic Cherian George comments on the evolution of Singapore's social, political, and economic trajectories. He likens the country to an Air-Conditioned Nation:
  A society with a unique blend of comfort and central control, where people have mastered their environment, but at the cost of individual autonomy, and at the risk of unsustainability.
  It is a thought-provoking read that shares an insightful perspective on Singapore’s political temperature across decades of development.
The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel
- Written as narrative non-fiction, this book asks why the main character is tempted to steal art, especially if not for money. I practically read this book in one sitting in Port Orchard, Washington, over the summer and could not put it down! It investigates the world’s most prolific art thief of the 21st century, Stéphane Breitwieser, who robbed nearly 200 museums over the course of a decade and kept the treasures in his bedroom. Odd, but you’re curious, right?
Strong Female Character by Fern Brady
- Scottish comedian Fern Brady reflects on her late autism diagnosis in this memoir. It bridges two realms of sexism and neurodiversity and documents her experience navigating them. Simultaneously, it reads like a coming-of-age novel about growing up and finding one’s footing and passions. I read this book in a Prague bakery and I’m pretty sure some crumbs are still stuck between pages because I couldn’t put it down!
The Unreality of Memory: And Other Essays by Elisa Gabbert
- While Strong Female Character had buttery crumbs between pages, this book had black sand wedged in its spine. I read a rather floppy paperback copy of this book while beach hopping on the Big Island, Hawaii, but that’s beside the point. Similar to Doppelgänger but more digestible in multiple sittings, this collection of essays is on disaster culture and the feeling of a collective, mounting sense of doom we feel as a society. I particularly liked her essays on the Titanic sinking and compassion fatigue.

fiction

Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi
- When my friend Lola handed me her copy of what she says is her favorite book to borrow while on a spring break visit to her home in San Roque, Spain, I knew it would be a good read. Originally published in Arabic in 1977, this creative nonfiction narrative is based on the author’s encounter as a psychiatrist with a woman in an Egyptian prison before she was to be executed. It speaks to a wider message of women’s rights within a patriarchal society founded on brutality and oppression.
Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
- After waiting for months in anticipation, I practically dropped everything to read this once it was released in the fall. Coco Mellors wrote the wildly popular Cleopatra and Frankenstein, though I can’t say I’ve read it. This is her sophomore book, following three estranged sisters trying to grapple with the grief of losing their fourth sister. It touches on identity, betrayal, addiction, and trauma, and I’ve never read such a dynamic, character-driven novel. The wait was worth it.
God of the Woods by Liz Moore
- I saw hardcovers in every bookstore during my summer trip to the US and was curious why it was such a hyped thriller. It’s a disappearance mystery spanning decades, set in an upstate New York summer camp. The plot mixes in blue-collar characters supporting a wealthy family and the dynamics between everyone that lead to a great reckoning. After reading it, I got the hype. It was a solid read.
Butter by Asako Yuzuki, translated by Polly Barton
- This was a much-anticipated springtime release in UK bookshops, with massive displays in front windows. Butter was probably my favorite fiction read of the year. A gourmet cook was convicted of serial murders of lonely Japanese men, who she claims have been seduced by her home cooking. She builds a rapport with a younger, ambitious female reporter who interviews her, and a narrative unfolds that touches on Japanese working culture, cuisine, and misogyny women experience in the country. And, the food descriptions made me drool. The tagline of the book hooked me at first glance:
  There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.
River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure
- This was one of the year's last fiction reads I read. Think ‘reverse immigration’, where a young 14-year-old American girl was raised overseas in China by her expat mother who gets engaged to their wealthy landlord. The story is a dual perspective spanning decades, flipping between the landlord, Lu Fang, and the girl, Alva. The book is best described by on its back cover:
  A profoundly moving exploration of race and class, cultural identity and belonging, and the often-false promise of the American Dream.

what’s on my TBR list for 2025

one-liner summaries of the book descriptions that hooked me: